Two organisations with which I am involved and someone I know personally have just had their PayPal accounts closed to their financial detriment. There is a common denominator here and that is the person, Toby Young, and the two organisations are the Free Speech Union (FSU), of which he is Director, and The Daily Sceptic, of which he is the Editor-in-Chief. I am a member of the FSU and a regular contributor to The Daily Sceptic (for a recent example see my article jointly written with Dr Niall McCrae on Bill Gates and Global Health). As a member of the FSU, I have had their support once against my employer and currently have their support in another matter I am pursuing.
I noticed a forwarded message from Sean Finch from the Delivering Liberty account on the UNN Telegram feed referring to the Tara Ahmed case suggesting that the FSU would not take this case up and implying that Toby Young had been naïve in not expecting the PayPal action to happen and further suggesting that the FSU board should remove him (bit ‘arsh Sean!). I disagree. This ridiculous and censorious action by PayPal–Toby Young and the organisations with which he is associated are not alone—may in retrospect seem naïve but, as Monty Python’s Flying Circus once famously said in a classic sketch ‘Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition’ and, indeed, nobody does. I did not expect a Twitter pile-on and a call to account for my anti-lockdown speaking and writing, until it happened. But it did (incidentally my job was probably saved by a quick intervention by the FSU).
Despite the personal inconvenience to Toby Young (with money locked in his personal account and no guarantee of having it all returned) and the financial peril in which this could put both the FSU and The Daily Sceptic (undoubtedly PayPal’s point) I think that some good may come of this. Due to Toby Young’s gradual rehabilitation after complete cancellation in 2018 this case has reached the mainstream media and The Daily Telegraph ran an article on it. This has spurred them to look further into the nefarious actions of PayPal uncovering, for example, that they closed the account of a parents’ group that campaigned to keep schools open during lockdown. Naïve? Maybe, but certainly unexpected. As Monty Python’s Flying Circus once said…
The mainstream media are a scurrilous lot who exposed the extent of their malleability by the state during lockdown and all things connected with the Covid-19 ‘pandemic’. But without exposure of issues such as these in their pages I doubt that these matters will come to the attention of the kind of people who can actually do something about this. The rest of us can exchange our views within an echo chamber, and that has its uses. If only one person pays attention, then that is good and organs such as UNN reach thousands, as evidenced by the number of people who tune in to the nightly shows. But the mainstream media, whether we like it or not, is where the power lies. Meantime, those of us with concerns about PayPal can close our accounts and encourage others to do the same. For instructions on how to close you PayPal account check this link.
Finally, included in UNN’S/Delivering lIBERTY Telegram message were some screenshots criticising Toby Young for not supporting someone convicted of racial hatred and a reply by Toby that they would be unlikely to do so and wondering if any other similar organisations would. The original tweet was clearly written without fully appreciating the work of the FSU. I do not speak for the FSU and know nothing about the case, but I can say that it is a membership organisation and would not go into battle for someone, whatever the case, who was not a member; that’s the deal. They may comment on cases and reach out with offers of support—as they have done in the case of the Scottish fish and chip lady who lost her livelihood for expressing some robust anti-monarchist views. Also, they do not fight legal cases for two reasons: first it would bankrupt the FSU; and second, its main activity is supporting individuals taken to task by their employers for free speech matters. It also lobbies hard to have poor legislation such as the Online Safety Bill and the Free Speech (Higher Education) Bill amended and attenuated in favour of genuine free speech.
Opinions from the Unity News Network (UNN) editorial team & various contributors. | UNN always clearly distinguishes between news and opinion pieces and as an open minded outlet we publish views from a variety of people and organisation that do not necessarily reflect the views of UNN or its writers. Articles published under UNN Opinions are always opinion pieces and if published on behalf of a contributor will contain that authors name at the start of the piece.
